24 August Keeping cool

It has been so hot! Apparently a surfeit of Saharan dust in the upper atmosphere is trapping the heat in.

We have replaced a faulty pump in the AC unit in our cabin and replaced a noisy Hella fan in the forward cabin with an almost silent Caframo Sirocco one.

Our timing was good because first I fell ill and a day later David did the same. It could be a post Carnival virus, lots of extra visitors to the island, or we went on the bus a few days ago and went out for dinner at a crowded restaurant. Whatever. We are sick with flu like symptoms; headache, eyes ache, muscles ache, hot then cold, but no cough. It's not Covid because I did a test. There's a strong likelihood it is dengue fever from mosquito bites. Very popular here at the moment. Rest in an air conditioned cabin, fluids , paracetamol and isolating are all we can do.

* Footnote: I felt better within three days, David was hit harder and it has was closer to 6 days before his symptoms abated. All well now.

13 August The grand parade

It's last day of Grenada carnival 20224 and the spectacle today is the grand parade of floats and dancers in costumes with music trucks and plenty of libations to keep the party flowing. The advertised start time is early afternoon with the first trucks expected to pass the entrance to the marina at 2pm. Two hours later we have had a dozen groups pass slowly -there was a one hour stop for lunch break for the artists.

I walked a mile along the route to the main Carenage people watching, having a look at the many, many food stalls and bars set up on each side of the road. It's family party day with Mum and Dad in their deck chairs, kids with soap bubble guns and getting sticky with candy floss in their hair.

Not a lot of parading was happening but I took photos and slowly walked back to the marina. The party kicked off as the sun was setting and what a party. I think everyone who lives on the island took part. A glorious, joyful explosion of colour for the Carnival.

12 August Jab jab Carnival

It's the Glorious 12th.  The first day of the grouse season in the UK.

However,that's UK.  This is Grenada's glorious 12th and it's carnival time! Today is Monday and we have a couple of days of parades. This morning's parade began before dawn. Sometimes it's called Jab Jab and sometime J'ouvert, as in 'I open'.

In Jab Jab participants are celebrating the emancipation from slavery and traditionally wear chains, hats with horns (like the devil?) and cover each other with old car oil and paints. If you go to watch old clothes are a must.

At 5.30am Jackster began to vibrate to the heavy bass of the sound system on an approaching truck. By 6am the parade was coming down the hill towards the entrance to the marina and we could hear the murmur of singing and horns sounding. I got up to go and watch while David stayed home and saved his hearing.

My first impression was a seething mass of people. The music was deafening and the bass so booming I could feel it. I didn't go outside the entrance gates, I don't think I could there was such a press of bodies. Anyway I didn't want an oil bath.

The music truck was stopped, unable to move forward. People were dancing, drinking, carrying an array of household items, presumably symbolic though I was struggling to connect a garden strimmer, a doll, a supermarket trolley (yes, really), machetes, suitcases and a improvised aerosol flame thrower.

It is a unique spectacle and people have come from across the islands to join the party. I left after twenty minutes having assaulted my ear drums and walked back to the main marina gate where there was a soap and hose down station in operation to wash off any oils and paints. I thought I was clean, but no, a dirty mark on the back of an arm had to cleaned.

The parade moved slower than an aged snail around the lagoon; four hours to travel half a mile and all the time the boats were a shakin'.

At 2.30pm it was the turn of the children's parade with colourful floats, a steel band and the kiddies dressed in what they hoped were prize winning outfits. This parade finished at 9pm. Finally quiet so we could sleep.

NO! No sleep for us when the after hours party kicked off at midnight on the road closest to us; less than 200m away a truck with the biggest sound system, the hardest bass boomers parked and stayed for three hours! I'm old. It wasn't music as I know it, more a disharmonious cacophony of noise. This time our companionway door was being rattled in the frame and our lampshades inside were 'chattering'. My teeth were grinding and sleep was impossible. Welcome to the uncomfortable bit of Caribbean carnival.

security at marina entrance

music truck

strimmers aloft

 

6 August Applying for a new UK passport

David's passport is due to expire in six months' time and as he has no plans for a trip home he has to get a new one sent to Grenada.

Many countries have an entry rule that a visitors passport must have a minimum of six months to run for entry to be granted. Grenada does which is why we had to make entry by 29 July. We are also going to be here for three months which is ample time for the process.

Unlike other countries, the UK only issues passports in the UK. You can apply online for one to be sent to you in another country, but there's no Consulate or embassy service.

It's not an onerous process; David's current passport was renewed when we were in Malaysia ten years' ago.   One gets a photo taken and delivered digitally, fill in the online form and send the old passport and supporting documents to an address in Hemel Hempstead.  In return we receive email updates on the progress until we get the final 'your old and new passports are ready to collect from the DHL office'.

Today we collected his new, blue, non EU passport from DHL on the Carenage. It has taken just 3 weeks from the day we Fedexed his old passport and documents. That was fast!

The last task tomorrow is to go to the print shop and have the photo page coloured copied to the size of a credit card and have it laminated. This makes a perfect ID card that fits in the wallet for those occasions when you might be asked to validate a credit card transaction. This happens in the supermarket in Antigua all the time.

4 August From your bilge to mine

A larger charter catamaran was clearing their cupboards for summer lay up and had one or two things that won't last a hot summer to redistribute...like good French wines. How lucky am I to have empty storage where I could put our spoils? Naturally, we made a monetary contribution to their boat fund but it was a bargain.

Party time!

27 July Strange lumps and bumps

 

before

Over the last six months two odd shaped moles have appeared on David's scalp behind his left ear. They are inline with the arm of his sunglasses and they itch. A couple of years ago a doctor here in Grenada removed three suspicious looking moles from his forehead – the biopsies came back as benign but you never know. Ignore those odd moles at your peril is the message we're getting from the internet.

Yesterday we popped in to see Dr Ortiz and she has recommended removal and analysis. David had a blood test to check he's fit for minor surgery and we returned a few days later for the procedure. I like it because I can watch. The little bits of skin went to the lab and the results came back in three weeks' later. Happily both were benign – moles that grew in the sunshine and were caused by a fungus (apparently).

during

later

and after

2 July Aftermath

Now we begin putting Jackster back together but before we replace the bimini we take the opportunity to polish the steel frame work which looks so mush better now.

We debate the merits of putting the headsail up or refolding and storing in a locker for the summer. Our decision is to take the sail ashore to a large clear area and to refold into a neater and smaller package. When we were in a hurry two days ago it was a case of get it down and stowed.

Now the bimini is refitted and we have the rear and forward sunshades it is bearable to sit in the cockpit once more. One of the very few good things about the heavy rain is that Jackster has very clean topsides.

On the Grenada Cruisers Facebook page the rebuild Carriacou and Petite Martinique initiative has begun; from posts about where to go to donate food, water and clothing, information on Government and the sailing community emergency collectives, boats planning to sail up to the islands asap to deliver immediate first assistance and Gofundme's.

in the mangroves in Carriacou

St Georges 

St Georges

The images of devastation of the island and more than a hundred boats piled on top of each other in the lagoon, of all the boats on the hard flipped over and many dismasted are posted. It is the force of nature and when it comes in contact with humans the results are tragic.

There was collateral damage to boats on main island Grenada; boats dragged ashore in Prickly Bay, in St Georges carenage a local lawyer's yacht had been holed and sank by the ferry terminal and in the corner of the lagoon there was a pile of local boats pushed up the bank by sea surge.

Again, we feel so lucky to have escaped, but now is the time to help others who have been less fortunate.

Monday 1 July The first day of the official hurricane season starts with a bang

Oh the irony! Less than 12 hours into the official hurricane season 2024 we have a category 5 hurricane making landfall on the Grenadian islands of Petite Martinique and Carriacou causing devastation.

Extract from NASA.gov

...as Beryl was bearing down on the Windward Islands, it began to undergo what is known as an eyewall replacement cycle wherein a new eyewall forms outside the original inner eyewall then contracts to become the new inner eyewall.  During this process, the storm may temporarily lose intensity, which is what happened to Beryl with sustained winds dropping to 120 mph during the early morning hours of Monday, July 1.  However, before reaching the Windward Islands, Beryl completed its eyewall replacement and re-intensified before making a direct hit on Carriacou Island, about 30 miles north of Grenada, at 11:10 a.m. EDT as a strong Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds reported by NHC of 150 mph.  Beryl caused widespread building, roof, tree, and electrical damage across the Windward Islands, and so far, media reports indicate it caused 3 deaths across the islands of Grenada, 3 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and 3 in Venezuela, which was impacted by Beryl’s outer rainbands.
 
After quickly exiting the Windward Islands, Beryl continued to encounter favorable ocean temperatures and atmospheric conditions and intensified even more, becoming a Category 5 hurricane at 11:00 p.m. EDT with sustained winds reported by NHC of 160 mph and breaking yet another historical record as the earliest Category 5 storm ever observed in the Atlantic basin.  Beryl would go on to reach a peak intensity of 165 mph sustained winds at 2:00 a.m. EDT, July 2, in the eastern Caribbean, which it maintained until later that morning when it finally began to lose some strength because of increasing wind shear.  By 11:00 p.m. EDT, Beryl’s sustained winds had dropped to 150 mph, though Beryl remained a powerful Category 4 storm as it headed west northwestward towards Jamaica.

In the early hours of the morning I'm lying awake listening to silence, very much the calm before the storm. I'm glad we are here together, but still worried about Jackster and hoping everything will be OK. It is a feeling of kismet.

The first rain drops fall on the tin roof before dawn with the first winds gently increasing until it is torrential by 9am. Our window looks out over Spice Island boat yard and across to the higher elevations of Lance aux Epines which are good visual indications of wind speeds. The palm trees are bending over, the windexes of the boats in the yard are spinning, but all the boats are held solid. I watch one bimini shred. So far we still have electricity to boil a kettle for tea, to get internet and water for showers. The power and water are switched off less than an hour later to preserve the services for later.

From herein to 3pm we are living in a bubble, watching the weather and waiting for the storm to pass. From what we can see it looks like a bad tropical storm passing; strong winds though no damage to buildings or boats, only some branches have been torn off.  Here we are relaxing in the novelty of an oversize chair.

By 3 o'clock the winds have dropped to under 15kts and the rain has eased. Then the AC in the room comes on indicating we have power and that Grenada main island was lucky. We have internet too and start picking up messages on FB on what has happened. This is when we are first aware of the devastating impact of Beryl on Carriacou, and selfishly, that PLM is unaffected.

Although there is still a State of Emergency curfew in place David has to get back to the marina to check on Jackster (and to run the generator) and sets off to walk the 4 miles. He got halfway and as cars appeared put out his thumb and was offered a lift. The kindness of the Grenadians is amazing. The man who gave David a lift was on his way to check on his elderly Mum; they stopped at her house first and then dropped David off at the marina before going back.

David's first sight of the marina was absolute relief – there is no damage here apart from some strewn vegetation, no damage to boats or buildings, no damage to the docks from storm surge. We have been so lucky. Some people did stay on board and reported winds in here in the lagoon of no more than 42 knots / 48mph. At the airport 5 miles south they recorded gusts of 110mph and on Carriacou 30 miles north it was 165 mph. We dodged the bullet by less than 20 miles (the north end of Grenada was hit badly) and by being in a protected marina.

A boat along the dock kindly lets David use his Starlink so he can message me at the apartment that all is well. I reply great and that I'll try to get a lift back with Polly and the bags. The security guard at Cool Runnings is due to finish his shift at 6 o'clock and assures me it is not out of his way to drop me off.

Polly's happy to be home and so am I. Jackster is looking so clean after all the rain, as if nothing has happened.

The marina cats were in need of a feed that evening...

Sunday 30 June Beryl is over the horizon

All we can do now is wait. Jackster is as storm ready as we could make her in Port Louis Marina and we are at Cool Runnings Apartments. Polly seems to be enjoying the adventure of a new place to explore. David wanted to stay on board, but for me he came ashore. We can replace a boat, but I can't replace him.

Dinner and wine while we continue watching the TV news on Beryl and the latest forecasts. Steve from Dignity once summed up our need to continually check the forecast – we're hoping it will be more favourable.

There is still power this evening and we indulge in some AC, but we were told the electricity company will switch off before Beryl passes to protect against exposed electric circuits and cables. The water will be switched off at the same time.

 

Sunday, 30 June Beryl gains momentum

Extract from NASA

On the morning of Sunday, June 30, Hurricane Beryl became a rare early season major hurricane when it reached Category 3 status with sustained winds of 115 mph as it was moving across the Atlantic 420 miles east-southeast of Barbados in the direction of the Leeward Islands.  Then, just a few hours later at 11:35 a.m. EDT, Beryl became the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record in the Atlantic with sustained winds reported at 130 mph by the National Hurricane Center (NHC), surpassing Hurricane Dennis from the epic 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.  Beryl also became historic as the strongest and easternmost hurricane and major hurricane in June in the Atlantic.   
 
Beryl originated from a tropical wave of low pressure that moved off the coast of Africa on June 22.  Known as African Easterly Waves (AEWs), these waves typically move westward from Africa across the tropical Atlantic and into the Caribbean at semi-regular intervals and can serve as seedlings for tropical storms and hurricanes.  However, what makes Beryl unusual is that it formed from an AEW so early in the season.  Beryl formed in what is known as the “main development region or MDR”, which is located between 10 and 20o N and 20 and 60o W or in the tropical Atlantic between the west coast of Africa and the lesser Antilles.  Storms forming here are also known as “Cape Verde storms”.  Normally, this part of the Atlantic doesn’t become active until the middle of hurricane season (i.e., August and September).  However, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are currently running anywhere from 1 to 2.5o C above average over nearly the entire MDR as well as across nearly the entire Caribbean.

We had hoped it wouldn't get worse but it has. Beryl is now forecast to be a category 5 hurricane, the highest rating with maximum sustained winds of 157mph and the forecast has shifted the eye further south to Carriacou. Gulp!

What makes this hurricane so awesome in the worst possible way is that Beryl is the fastest developed hurricane, from tropical depression to tropical storm to cat 5 in only 72 hours, ever recorded and the earliest major hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. F**k! Pain only has one language, bad language. Climate warming caused the Atlantic to get too hot which feeds the growth of a monster.

As I'm walking up to the showers I'm dodging dock lines being thrown off as mass panic takes hold. ''Did you hear? Category 5!'' ''We're going to Trinidad. Are you coming?''.

On Vessel Finder app you can see a hundred boats are fleeing 70nm south to Trinidad this morning. The boat traffic app shows yachts, ferries and cargo ships from islands further north then Grenada.

It is a sensible move. Trinidad sits a few miles off the coast of South America which acts a deflector for storms. (We later heard there were 500 yachts anchored in Trinidad and they only experienced light winds as Beryl moved past.)

David doesn't think it is necessary to move. We will be staying in Port Louis; it is rated to withstand a hurricane up to Category 2 and, as it is built within the walls of an extinct volcano we are surrounded by hills. The next major concern with a hurricane is sea surge as the eye passes bringing lower pressure and the winds shift. To get into the lagoon the path takes a dog leg, ie it's not directly open to the sea.

We may be staying, but that doesn't mean we are nonchalant about the potential threat. We remove the head sail and stow it inside Jackster, take off the bimini, strap the dinghy down hard on the rear coach roof and lash the kayak on the deck. Anything that could cause extra windage is removed or lashed down.

Our berth is between two monohulls; they each have a finger dock to tie to. We have a couple of lines from the bow down to a fixing on the seabed, doubled lines from sides to the dock, crossed lines at the stern and a line between our bow and our neighbour on each side. I'm worried that if things go wrong we are on the dock furthest from land – a long run to escape.

Being so well organised there is time in the afternoon to watch the highlights of the Austrian Grand Prix and to enjoy the last two Magnum ice creams. If Jackster goes down it won't be with our ice creams.

As the race finishes at 4pm Joel the dock master comes to tell us that the Government has issued a State of Emergency. He's pulling all power cords. This is really serious. State of Emergency means the nominated hurricane shelters will open at 6pm and everyone needs to be ashore.

I'm frantically trying to book accommodation. The lady next door has secured a two bed Airbnb overlooking the marina. However, she is allergic to cats and I don't want to leave Polly. She would be so frightened.

I have a light bulb moment and phone the apartments where we stayed when we hauled out in October. They accepted small animals. At first there is no answer and then I try the owner of the car rental firm who are based at Cool Runnings Apartments. Zavid is a lovely man (we've rented cars from him for the last two summers). Not only does he say there is one room available, but that he will come and collect us because all buses and taxies have stopped running. With no traffic on the road it takes 10 minutes to get there. The apartments are on the south side of the island near next to Spice Island haul out yard and Prickly Bay. The tin roofs of the apartments have hurricane chains incorporated...

I'd already been thinking what we would need to take with us when we step off Jackster if she sinks in the storm. We'll need the ditch bag with passports, credit cards, essential paperwork, a change of clothes, food and water for 48 hours and Polly's travel bag, litter tray and food. I add a bottle of wine too.